ARLINGTON, TX — Cody Campbell says he didn’t know much about Joey McGuire when he and a Texas Tech contingent that included athletic director Kirby Hocutt first interviewed McGuire for the Red Raiders head coaching vacancy in the fall of 2021. 

He knew McGuire was a successful high school coach and an assistant at Baylor, but he didn’t believe he was about to interview the next head coach of his Red Raiders when he arrived to the FBO at the Waco Regional Airport. That changed quickly. 

“I knew it in the first two minutes I met him (that he was the man for the job),” Campbell said as confetti fell on the field at AT&T Stadium after Texas Tech’s 34-7 win over BYU in the Big 12 Championship Game on Saturday. It was the Red Raiders’ first outright conference championship in over 70 years. “The man had a plan. The man had a vision. He’s got a personality that is undeniable. He’s authentic. He’s real. He’s everything he claims to be, he is.”

Hocutt echoed those thoughts. He kicks himself for not saving a voice message McGuire left in 2021 when he called to ask for the job. He didn’t think anything of it at the time. A lot of coaches wanted the Texas Tech job in 2021 after parting ways with Matt Wells. 

Many of the applicants had a longer collegiate track record than McGuire, who joined the Baylor staff in 2017 after 14 years as a successful high school coach at Cedar Hill. But it was clear after the first meeting with McGuire that he’d get a second interview. 

“The energy he brought into the room, the game plan he brought into the room, it just left us wanting more,” Hocutt said. “Joey is the perfect fit for Texas Tech.”

McGuire built Cedar Hill into a championship program, famously building a trophy case for the Longhorns before they’d ever won a district championship. He went 141-42 in 14 years, winning seven district championships and three state titles in four trips. He was 34-9 in the playoffs as a head coach in high school, and he’ll get a chance to coach in his first playoffs as a head coach over the next month. 

Two of those state championships were won at AT&T Stadium, which was known as Cowboys Stadium back in 2013 and 2014 when McGuire’s Longhorns emerged victorious.  As the Texas Tech buses rounded a corner and AT&T Stadium came into view early Saturday morning ahead of the Big 12 Championship game, McGuire turned to his chief of staff, Antonio Huffman and said, “Hello, old friend. I’m back.” 

Campbell and Hocutt say that McGuire’s energy and plan made him right for the job. His assistant coaches say that it is his process that makes him built for big games. He was 3-1 in state title games as a head coach and never lost in the first round of the playoffs. 

McGuire is a man of habit, even down to his meal the night before a game – bowtie pasta with bell peppers, chicken, pepper flakes, and garlic alfredo sauce. The pasta bar travels to road games, including neutral site games like the Big 12 Championship. 

Associate head coach Kenny Perry has known McGuire for over 30 years. The two are best friends and competed against each other as high school coaches in the Metroplex for decades. Now, they coach together. Perry has a front-row seat to watch McGuire work his magic, but he always knew his secret.

“I tell people all the time, Joey is a character builder,” Perry said after the win. “His kids play for him and that’s really his secret. They’re going to play as hard as they can for him, and he’s going to coach as hard as he can for them. And he expects the same thing out of us.” 

McGuire is turning into a prophet in West Texas. After beating Texas in 2022, he declared that “Everything runs through Lubbock.” It wasn't apparent to everyone at the time, or in the two seasons after it, but it is now. 

“When Joey McGuire says things, it is kind of prophetic,” general manager James Blanchard said. He said we were going to beat the Longhorns and the Sooners then knock down the south end zone and that happened. He said everything runs through Lubbock, and right now, the Big 12 runs through Lubbock.” 

Texas Tech lurked in the shadows of West Texas for most of its program history. It was never considered the epicenter of football in the Lone Star State. That was reserved for the Texas Longhorns and the Texas A&M Aggies of the state. The Red Raiders were often overlooked and underestimated. The lack of titles didn’t help their case. It was TCU and Baylor that occasionally broke through in the Big 12. Tech shared two Southwest Conference titles and were once co-champions of the Big 12 South, but most of the trophies in the football facilities were for individual awards and bowl wins. Not championships. 

The 2025 season has represented new possibilities for Texas Tech. The new reality of college football, namely the transfer portal and revenue sharing, have allowed the deep pockets of West Texas to buy their way into the exclusive club of college football contenders. No longer can the blue bloods gatekeep. Backed by resources earned with black gold, the Red Raiders have punched through the glass ceiling and emerged as the new faces of the Big 12. 

But they want even more. 

“We believe we’re the new face of college football,” Hocutt said. “Bigger than Lubbock, we’re the face of college football and we’re here to stay.”